Abstract: That sombre theme had to be given a sinister resonance, a tonality of its own, a continued vibration that, I hoped, would hang in the air and dwell on the ear after the last note had been struck. In the wake of Ivan Kreilkamp’s masterful 1997 reading of the novella and in harmony with the sound studies boom that it just barely anticipated, scholars have begun listening in earnest to Heart of Darkness. Long distracted by “the dominance of the visual” in society generally (Bull and Black 1), humanities scholarship broadly, and analyses of Conrad’s work specifically, we took our time.3 At last, however, joining the “community of listeners” whom Marlow addresses (Kreilkamp 230), reader-listeners will hear ... Read MoreKeywords: English literaturePubDate: 2017-09-29T00:00:00-05:00

Abstract: The style and organization of The Shadow-Line, deceptively conventional, have often drawn critical attention to the ethical dilemmas posed by the protagonist’s first command, and questions of aesthetic epistemology have not seemed particularly relevant: unlike other key works by Conrad, The Shadow-Line does not seem bent on defamiliarizing readers from established narrative patterns. Since the novella’s publication in book form in 1917, however, criticism has devoted a great deal of interest to its ambivalent use of the supernatural, and the focus on theme has implied a more or less explicit focus on genre and narrative perspective. In Cedric Watts’s influential view, for example, a “covert plot” of the ... Read MoreKeywords: English literaturePubDate: 2017-09-29T00:00:00-05:00

Abstract: “This is Nature—the balance of colossal forces.” Conrad, Lord Jim The intentional ambiguity which Conrad weaves into Lord Jim attests to his interest in changeable perspective, in subjective bias, and in the gray moral area he so often points to in his texts. While there may appear to be no clear answer to the question of whether Jim is a tragic hero, a narcissistic failure, or something in between, Conrad’s depiction of Patusan seems designed to suggest that Jim has entered a psychological landscape representing his inner struggle with the forces within him—the dichotomous desire for peace and anonymity versus the desire for power and prestige—and his ultimate succumbing to vanity and fantasy. As William ... Read MoreKeywords: English literaturePubDate: 2017-09-29T00:00:00-05:00

Abstract: Both Sarah Cole and Adam Parkes offer distinctive, and occasionally contradictory, interpretations of the literature of the cusp of the century, with Parkes suggesting a rereading of the importance of impressionism, and Cole privileging violence as a controller of form and theme in literary Modernism. Both focus on the importance of vivid sensation(alism), especially in the overlapping area of Conrad’s political fiction, which is illustrated in their extended treatments of The Secret Agent, though together their books create a scholarly conversation about how we should interpret and understand such treatment. “Violence experienced subjectively—bruising, terrible, vibrant, productive—is, for ... Read MoreKeywords: English literaturePubDate: 2017-09-29T00:00:00-05:00

Abstract: Conrad’s “The Duel”: Sources/Texts is a tour de force of literary sleuthing. The primary editor John Stape’s dedicated spadework unearthing twelve variant ur-text versions of “The Duel” beyond those already on record discovered by eminent Conradian Hans Van Marle and finding the immediate 1907 source for Conrad’s inspiration (Stape and Peters 87, 88) are astonishing feats of research. His meticulous transcription of the typescript/manuscript, with an opening explanatory note distinguishing typescript from manuscript, original pagination, and anomalies annotated throughout, crowns these achievements. Collected for the first time under one cover, this source material will prove invaluable for Conrad scholars ... Read MoreKeywords: English literaturePubDate: 2017-09-29T00:00:00-05:00